Austin-based New Hope Animal Rescue and Bastrop County Animal Shelter connected many pets with loving families during a PetSmart Charities event held July 15-17 as part of National Adoption Week.
“All in all, it was a wonderful and successful weekend,” Wendy Ballard, animal services coordinator at Bastrop County Animal Shelter, told Austin Journal. “Our shelter is still, unfortunately, struggling with space. Even with the successful numbers, we are still at capacity and need more adopters.”
The three-day event at the Sunset Valley PetSmart on Brodie Lane featured kittens, cats and dogs available for low-cost adoptions from both rescues. Potential pet parents were given the opportunity to meet pets that were up for adoption and learn about how to care for them.
Though the adoptions from the event provided some relief, New Hope Animal Rescue, Bastrop Animal Shelter and other rescues in Texas are facing a capacity crisis and can’t keep up with animal intake. According to a report released June 7 by Best Friends Animal Society, Texas is the No. 1 state in the country for animal shelter deaths and has been for the last two years.
According to Best Friends Animal Society, as stated by the Houston Chronicle, most animal shelters in Texas are running at 50% or above capacity, especially for dogs. The responsibility of saving pets relies heavily on members of the community as animal shelters are limited in terms of volunteers and resources.
New Hope Animal Rescue relies on donations and foster parent volunteers to save the lives of dogs and cats at risk of being killed in shelters in the Great Austin area and beyond.
“When you adopt a pet from us, you save two lives, the pet you are adopting and the pet we can now save because you have freed up a spot in a foster home or PetSmart adoption center,” Kelley Rice, director of New Hope Animal Rescue, said in a July 1 press release.
The Bastrop County Animal Shelter houses dogs and cats within the county, as well as those picked up by Bastrop, Elgin and Smithville city animal control officers. While their “open intake” status prevents them from being “no kill” as they rely heavily on limited adopters and fosters, they strive to remain “low kill” and have near “no kill” save rates.
To view available pets for adoption, visit nhanimalrescue.org/adoptable-dogs and co.bastrop.tx.us/page/as.adoption.